Worlds of Magic looks to be a serious attempt to make a spiritual successor to Master of Magic. They even have George E Purdy on the team who did the original artwork for MoM! I've backed it myself. Take a look:

Have you checked your PSU fan? I had one once that the fan blew INTO the case instead of out. I had to take it apart and flip the fan so that it blew out.

Was that a Xion SuperNova PSU? The reason I ask is I was thinking of getting one for my new computer but according to the reviews on Newegg the fan blows inside the case instead of out. If it's a big issue I may have to consider another PSU.

I've decided to change my build to 8800 GT in SLI with the 780i motherboard. I plan to game at 1920x1200 and am hoping it will last 2 years before I buy another system. Any last comments before I pull the trigger? Final cost is $2196 shipped.

Athlon FX-53, Geforce 7800 GS AGP, 2 gigs of RAM and the demo runs like shit, even at 1024x768 and medium settings. Average about 20 fps and worse when the shooting starts. I'll wait until I get my new computer next year before I buy.

Something's not right... I have a comparable rig and the demo runs fine at 1920x1200

Athlon FX-53, Geforce 7800 GS AGP, 2 gigs of RAM and the demo runs like shit, even at 1024x768 and medium settings. Average about 20 fps and worse when the shooting starts. I'll wait until I get my new computer next year before I buy.

We'll help you out either way. So what's your current setup? Which console are you looking at getting?

Thanks for the detailed response.

I have an ASUS Deluxe motherboard that has an antenna that sends a wireless signal to another older computer in an adjacent room so it can share an internet connection. It also has a cable modem with no router. I know my computer has to be on to send a signal to the other computer. Are you saying with a router the computer does not need to be on to send a signal to another computer or a console? It doesn't seem feasible to connect a wire from my computer to a console which will be across a hall and about 30 feet away in another room, so I'm thinking of going wireless. I'm thinking of getting the 360 when the new falcons come out in a few months (hopefully).

I have a gaming PC hooked up to a cable internet connection via Comcast. I'm thinking of getting a console but want to know if I need another cable internet connection in order to use the 360 or PS3 online services? I have an HDTV that I want to use for the console. Does the online service come thru the HDTV cable TV connection or do I need a separate internet cable connection for that? What options do I have?

Do you still play on computer a lot?If so, have you considered a monitor upgrade instead?Just bear in mind that you don't want to wind up with an LCD you can drive properlyat native resolution with your graphics card.

Yes, I like my present PC monitor and am only looking at another LCD mainly for TV viewing.

I thinking of getting an HDTV and an Xbox 360. I've never owned either and have only dealt with PCs. I've been doing research and I'm still not sure what to get. Is it worth getting an HDTV that has 1080p resolution? Does it make much difference in the graphics? What things should I look for when buying an HDTV for the Xbox? How does the Xbox hook up to the TV? Is it via the HDMI cable? How many HDVI connections should the TV have, etc.?

I have an Athlon FX-53, Geforce 7800 GS AGP and 2 gigs of ram. No matter what resolution or setting I run it on, I get between 10 and 20 fps if there is nothing happening and as soon as things get busy I drop below 10 fps. WTF? I tried running the /nosound switch since I have an Audigy 2 card and read about the Soundblaster bug, but there is no change in performance. Do you think this is due to my CPU or is there something else going on?

I was really disappointed in Heroes 5 because the AI gets huge gold bonuses. As far as I know, the cheat is hard coded and can't be changed. The Heroes 3 AI never cheated to that extent. Totally ruined the game for me.

Thanks for the info, Kobra. Can you expand on the improved AI comment? How and where has it improved? It pisses me off that not one fucking review of the expansion I've read so far mentions anything about the AI.

I'm concerned about the IGN review saying the strategic AI is weak and never attacks your capital. He also says they tend to make silly attacks and not go after high value areas. Since the Risk-style campaign is my main reason for interest can anyone confirm that the AI will not wipe you off the map?

Looks cool, but very dated graphics, but I might still give it a try if I heard more. But $54.95 is absolutely the highest I would spend on a game, so it would have to be pretty godlike to pay that for it.

Any detailed impressions anywhere?

You should at least try the demo when it comes out. Dominions is the best fantasy strategy game, IMHO. There is a lot of info and AAR on the net if you Google for it.

I think I would like to learn how to build my own computer in the future. I feel it might be fun as well as save money, since I'm spending about $4,000 on a new computer every 3 to 4 years. It would also be nice to be able to upgrade my own system without paying someone else to do it. It might be a fun hobby for me. What is the best way to learn how to do this? Please note that I'm not mechanically inclined at all, and the best I can do at this point is screw in a light bulb.

for about $335. I should be able to sell the 6800 Ultra to bring the net cost under $300. Would that be worth it with my FX-53? Or is my processor too slow for that combo?

Now you are talking big money, I didn't think you were interested in replacing the motherboard? If you are, that changes ALL of the dynamics of it, because you can pick up a 7900GT - which is better than that ATI - for about the same price. Logically, that would be better, but a much more expensive move, so the choice really is - do you want to squeeze another year or two out of your current rig? Then the 7800GS-OC AGP will do that for almost no cash outlay on your part. Otherwise, drop in a new motherboard, and roll in a 7900GT and play that route. The dynamics of it changed from a cheap and good $30-50 upgrade netting you another 20FPS, to a $500 overhaul of your machine. If money isn't an issue for you, go the second route, but the conditions of your first post were "was wondering if there is a relatively cheap upgrade I can do to get significantly better performance in the latest games".

I was prepared to spend no more than about $300 (that is "cheap" for me). Are you sure the 7900GT is faster than the X1900 XT? I thought the X1900 XT was almost as fast as the 7900GTX.

My current system is an Athlon 64 (939 PIN) FX-53 with ASUS A8V mobo (AGP only), twin 74 GB Raptor 10k drives in RAID 0, 2 GB RAM, and BFG GeForce 6800 Ultra OC. I've been out of the loop for the past few years about the latest hardware and was wondering if there is a relatively cheap upgrade I can do to get significantly better performance in the latest games? It's not that my system is slow, it's just that I can't turn all the option on high at 1600x1200 resolution like I use to (Company of Heroes, for example).